When I Need You the Most
by HumanKite96
Summary: When Stan unexpectedly becomes a vampire, he turns to his best friend for help. Of course, Kyle is there for him. He always has been. But how long can Kyle continue to help his friend when he feels like he's becoming a different person? Not particularly good with summaries. First fic. No flames please. Rated T for language. Style.
1. Best Friends

_A/N: I've been a little stumped for ideas lately and although I've never really been one to involve something supernatural in my writing, I'm doing it now. One thing I've always done is jump right into the action though so that's normal._

_Anyway, I do not own South Park. That would be Matt and Trey._

When Stan had called, asking Kyle to come over, the Jewish boy didn't think much of it. Yes, it was a little weird that the raven wouldn't give his friend the reason why he needed him so badly and the boy's panicked tone was admittedly even more strange but, considering the town that they resided in and the unexplained phenomena that constantly occurred there, Kyle didn't believe that his friend was in any real trouble. He was slightly concerned however, due to the fact that Stan was normally a very calm individual. The sound of panic in his voice was not something the red-head was used to hearing but he was almost certain that whatever was happening to his friend would be easily remedied. To put it very simply, he was wrong.

As he arrived at the house, he expected Stan to answer the door. Instead, he was greeted by his friend's mother.

"Oh. Hello there, Kyle!" she said upon opening the door.

"Hi, Mrs. Marsh. I'm here to see Stan," Kyle replied.

"Of course. Go right ahead. Stan's in his room."

"Thanks," the boy said as he stepped inside. He quickly made his way up the stairs and knocked on Stan's bedroom door. Almost immediately, the door flew open and a hand grabbed Kyle by the arm and yanked him inside. The door slammed shut behind him and he was basically thrown onto the bed. He sat up, trying to understand just what would possess Stan to act so strangely when he noticed the raven sitting directly across from him on the mattress.

"Just what the hell do you-" the boy began, but suddenly, he was unable to speak. Kyle stared, dumbfounded at his best friend. Instead of looking into the soft blue eyes that he had become so used to seeing, he was looking into a pair that were a deep, glowing crimson.

"Stan… You… Your eyes, they… You're a…"

"Vampire," Stan finished. "Yeah. I'm a vampire."

The Jewish boy only seemed more confused. "But how long have you been… like this?" he asked.

"Look, Kyle. I don't have time to explain everything right now. I came to you because I trust you more than anyone. Anyway, if I go too long without feeding, I'll die. It's been a few days and well… I'm hungry." The raven boy looked intently at his friend as he spoke.

At first, Kyle didn't understand Stan's apparent request. Suddenly, the realization of what his friend was saying hit him and his eyes widened. "You mean you want to drink my blood?!"

"Of course I don't _want _to!" Stan answered. "But I don't know what else to do! I'm so hungry I can barely stop myself from attacking every person I see… including you," he added rather solemnly.

Kyle seemed contemplative for a moment before speaking. "Does it hurt?" he asked.

"Probably," Stan answered hesitantly. "I mean, the last time I did it, the guy acted like it hurt for a while but then he calmed down."

"But why-" Kyle began. He was instantly cut off by Stan.

"Kyle, please!" the raven pleaded. "I can't answer all these questions right now!"

The Jewish boy noticed how worried his friend looked. Stan appeared to be weakened somehow, yet his eyes were glowing even fiercer than before. The deep red color was somewhat captivating and Kyle found it hard to look away. The more he looked, the more his fear seemed to dissipate, which the red-head soon realized was an unnatural reaction. If anything, continuing to stare into the soulless eyes of his best friend, who had mysteriously changed into a creature of the night, should instill more fear in him, not less. Possessing somewhat of a scientific mind, the boy deduced that there must be supernatural forces at work; some sort of hypnosis meant to calm the victim. Once this thought occurred to him, he became increasingly uneasy.

As Stan continued to look at Kyle, his animalistic hunger only grew. He couldn't help thinking how good it would feel to sink his teeth into his best friend and drink to his heart's content. This thought also caused him to feel extremely guilty and he attempted (unsuccessfully) to rid himself of the urge to attack the boy in front of him. However, the longer he looked, the harder this became and he realized that his mouth was beginning to water and he absent-mindedly licked his lips.

"Stan?" You're scaring me…" Kyle said softly. He backed away slightly, only a little worried that Stan would actually attack him. He knew that his friend would never hurt him but he wasn't sure just how much the vampirism had changed him or if it affected his reasoning and judgment.

"I'm sorry, Kyle. I'm just so hungry, I can't help it. I don't want to do this, I just-"

"Go ahead," Kyle interrupted.

"What?" Stan asked, a bit taken aback.

"You're my best friend. I trust you and I want to help you," Kyle clarified. "Plus, it looks like you're going to drink my blood whether I want you to or not," he added. He wasn't completely convinced of the last part but decided to say it anyway. If Kyle were to say no, he truly believed that Stan would leave him alone. However, if Stan's vampiric side were to gain control of him, Kyle knew that he wouldn't be able to stop him. Undead or not, the raven was still the stronger of the two. Regardless, he didn't even consider saying no to be an option. He meant what he said. Stan was his best friend and he wanted to help him in any way that he could and if that meant that he would have to lose a little blood then he was willing to give it up.

"Are you sure about this?" Stan asked.

"I'm not going to become a vampire too, am I?"

"No."

"Then I'm sure."

Stan approached his friend slowly. He was still dying (literally) of hunger but he needed to try to remain in control so as to keep Kyle calm and to protect him as well. He knew that it would be hard to stop drinking once he started so he had to try his best to not give in to his hunger.

The red-head closed his eyes tightly as the raven placed his hands on his shoulders and inched closer. He took a few deep breaths, attempting to stay calm but every second seemed to last forever and he felt that the feeling of not knowing when Stan was going to bite him was going to drive him to the point of insanity. Suddenly, he heard the raven draw in a quick breath as he opened his mouth and the Jewish boy tensed. He felt teeth sink into the skin of his neck and he bit his bottom lip, clenching his fists beside him as pain seared through his entire body.

As soon as the first drop of blood touched Stan's tongue, he could no longer control himself and he began taking huge gulps of the warm liquid. He closed his eyes as the blood flowed into his mouth, the experience nothing short of extremely pleasurable. Stan had gone into feeding frenzies before but something was different this time. Something was affecting him in a way that he couldn't explain but, at the moment, he didn't even notice this. In fact, he didn't notice much of anything. It's as if he were unaware of everything except for the taste of Kyle's blood.

Kyle was trying his best not to scream. The pain was overwhelming and absolutely unbearable. As his friend continued to drink from his neck, the red-head considered pushing him away. It was torturing him so much that he could think of nothing but how much he wanted it to end. Then suddenly, it did. The Jewish boy was utterly confused as the pain completely dissipated. In its place, he felt only a strange nothingness.

Stan felt his friend's body go limp and he immediately held the boy tighter and gently lowered him onto his back as he continued to drink. He could feel Kyle's heart beginning to race and his breathing was becoming shallow. Although the taste was beyond phenomenal, the raven was no longer desperate for blood and he found that his ability to reason was returning to him. The boy knew that he would have to stop soon but he wanted to consume as much of this delicious liquid as possible.

"S-Stan…" Kyle moaned weakly.

The vampire opened his eyes and noticed that Kyle was extremely pale. He immediately pulled away from him and swallowed the last bit of blood that was in his mouth, watching nervously as his friend slowly began to sit up.

The Jewish boy felt strange to say the least. He didn't even remember lying down but he assumed it had to have happened after the pain had left. As he sat up, he rubbed his eyes, feeling as if he'd just woken up from a nap.

Stan quickly noticed a small stream of blood trickling from the wound in Kyle's neck and, unable to stop himself, rushed forward to lick it off. This also closed the wound and prevented any further bleeding.

"You okay?" The raven asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I think so," Kyle replied. "Just a little light-headed but I'm guessing that's normal considering the fact that a good bit of my blood is in your stomach." He looked up at Stan and was immediately confused. "Your eyes aren't red anymore."

"Oh. Yeah that only happens when I haven't fed in a while. Once I get a good meal, they go back to normal," Stan replied. "Guess that's a good thing. Otherwise, it wouldn't be long before everyone knew what I was."

Kyle nodded in understanding. "You've got a little bit of blood on your mouth," he said.

Stan wasted no time in licking the remnants of his meal from his lips. "Thanks," he responded.

The red-head was slightly unsettled by the way in which his friend seemed so eager to drink his blood. He knew that Stan was only doing what he had to but it was hard to be completely okay with it.

"It means a lot that you would do this for me," the raven said.

Despite feeling like he was going to collapse at any moment, Kyle smiled. "You're my best friend, vampire or not."

"Thanks."

"So…" Kyle began. "Does it actually taste good?"

"You'd be surprised. I guess you wouldn't really think of blood as something that would taste good but, to me, it's better than an ice cream sundae," Stan answered. "I know it sounds weird but it's true. There's really nothing I want more than blood. I guess that's something that just happens when you become a vampire. And… Well, I don't want to freak you out or anything but… each person's blood tastes a little different and yours is definitely the best I've ever had."

Despite what Stan wanted, this bit of information _definitely_ freaked Kyle out. He swallowed nervously but the raven boy didn't seem to notice.

"So," Stan continued. "How did it feel?"

"For the first few seconds, it was the worst pain I've ever experienced. It felt like someone injected my veins with lava," Kyle explained. "But then it just disappeared. I don't know what happened exactly but the pain was just gone. In fact, I didn't feel anything."

"Sorry you had to go through that. I don't want to hurt you but… you were the only person I could think of that would actually try to help me and wouldn't go blabbing to everyone else about this."

Kyle smiled again. "You don't have to explain anything. I understand." The boy attempted to stand up but he was still too weak and he immediately fell back to the ground. Stan rushed forward and managed to catch him before he hit the floor.

"Kyle! Are you alright?"

"I'm just… really tired," he replied before yawning.

"You lost a lot of blood," Stan responded. "Here." He carefully lifted Kyle up and helped him back onto the bed. "You need some sleep. You'll feel better in the morning."

Kyle nodded and laid down. In moments, he was sound asleep.

Stan watched for a few seconds to make sure that his breathing was normal and, once he was satisfied that his friend was okay, he smiled. He quickly opened his bedroom door and hurried downstairs to find his mother.

"Mom?" he called.

"I'm in the kitchen, sweetie," she replied. As Stan entered the kitchen, she continued. "Why? What do you need?"

"Kyle's really upset about a break-up and I think he needs to stay for a while so I can help him get through it," he lied. He didn't particularly like being dishonest but he had to come up with some reason for his friend to stay. He definitely didn't want Kyle to try to go home in the condition he was in. Besides, it was a Saturday so he was pretty sure his mom would be okay with it.

"Aww. The poor thing," Sharon replied. "He didn't seem upset at all when he got here."

"Yeah. He was trying to hide it but when we started talking about it, he just kind of lost it."

"Well, you tell him he can stay as long as he needs to, okay? I'll call Sheila and let her know he's here."

"Thanks, mom," Stan responded before returning to his room. He made sure to be as quiet as possible so as to not wake Kyle, although he was pretty sure that the boy would probably sleep through anything at this point.

It was getting pretty late so Stan grabbed his sleeping bag from the closet and threw it on the floor. After checking on Kyle once more, he turned the lights out and tried to go to sleep. A million thoughts raced through his mind as he lay in the darkness. So many things were unknown to him but one thing was certain. Kyle was his best friend in the whole world. He had proven that today and Stan was determined to do everything he could to make it up to him.

_A/N: Hope that some of you actually like this. I don't feel like I'm particularly good at writing Stan but we'll see if that improves. I really want to introduce Butters later because he's really the only South Park character that I feel like I'm truly able to capture the essence of. _


	2. Where it all Starts

_A/N: Sorry this took so long. College will take away every bit of free time you have. This chapter is a little short and is mostly dialogue but I hope it's still enjoyable._

_Also, I still don't own South Park. Though I wish I did._

As light filtered into the room from the bedroom window the next morning, Kyle slowly began to open his eyes. Extremely worn out from the day before, he stretched a bit and attempted to sit up. To his surprise, he was a lot stronger than he thought he'd be but it was still slightly difficult to support his weight. The boy's arms were beginning to shake as he propped himself up so he immediately laid back down. Flipping over onto his side, he realized that he was completely unsure of whether or not his mother knew he was still here. He quickly abandoned this thought however due to the fact that if his mother didn't know he was here then she wouldn't know where he was and therefore would be calling everyone she knew to find out. If this were the case, Stan's mom would have come upstairs sometime last night to see if Kyle was still there and, since this scenario didn't play out, the Jewish boy could only assume that both of their mothers were completely aware of the fact that he had spent the night.

As his mind continued to wander, Kyle tried to foresee the eventual outcome of their situation. No matter what way he looked at it, it was hard to imagine anything positive. Having believed his whole life that vampirism was simply a myth, he had no idea how to go about finding a cure or if such a thing was even possible. It was obvious to him that he would have to continue to let Stan drink from him in order to keep his friend, along with the rest of the town, safe but the idea of feeling that much pain again was almost inconceivable. He wasn't joking when he said it was the worst pain he had ever felt. In those few moments right after the raven had bitten him, Kyle honestly thought that he was going to die simply because, in his mind, anything that felt that excruciating should have killed him. He wasn't at all sure of the reason behind the pain that he experienced but at the moment, he wasn't very sure of anything.

Growing tired of these negative thoughts, he flipped over onto his other side to see if Stan was awake. This question was immediately answered however, many more were raised in its place. His friend was still asleep but he was also currently defying the laws of gravity. Kyle stared in amazement as he witnessed the black-haired boy floating slightly above the floor.

Unsure of what to do, the red-head carefully slipped out of bed and approached his vampiric friend. He had seen numerous unusual things in the ten years he'd been alive but seeing his best friend levitate in his sleep was even stranger to him than anything else.

"Stan," Kyle whispered as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Almost instantly, the vampire's eyes began to open and he fell back to the floor.

"Kyle?" he asked. "What's up?"

"Dude, you were floating!"

"…What?" he asked, the end of the word transforming into a yawn. Having just woken up, Stan was a little bit unsure of what the boy beside him was saying. "What are you talking about?"

"I woke up and I saw you floating about six inches off the floor," the Jewish boy explained.

"Wait, you're serious?"

"Yes, dude! Why would I make that up?"

Stan sat up slowly. "No. No. It's not that I don't believe you I just… I've never done that before. I don't think…" Although floating in his sleep was definitely odd, Stan was getting used to the strange things he was able to do by now. He may not have known he could do it but that didn't make it any more amazing to him.

"So you didn't know that you could do that?" Kyle asked.

"No, but it doesn't really surprise me," the raven responded. He looked at the small mark that was still visible on his friend's neck where he had bitten him yesterday and felt a twinge of guilt. No matter how many times Kyle said it was okay, Stan felt like he would never be able to forgive himself for hurting him. "You feeling alright today?"

"Yeah. I still feel a little strange but at least I can stand up without falling over," he replied. Then another thought occurred to him; one that made him slightly worried. "So, is this going to become a regular thing?"

The black-haired boy instantly looked away and sighed. "I don't know. I really don't want to do it again but what else can I do?" It was true. The human side of him wanted nothing more than to send his friend home and never hurt him again. However, his vampiric nature caused him to relish the thought of tasting Kyle's blood once more.

Kyle remained silent for a moment. He was honestly attempting to come up with a solution but, without enough information about the situation in general, it was a hopeless effort. He then felt that now was as good a time as any to start asking questions. "When did you become a vampire?" he asked, feeling it was best to start at the beginning.

"Well, I just noticed it about two weeks ago," his friend replied.

The Jewish boy was slightly confused. "Wait. What do you mean? You _noticed_ it two weeks ago? You don't remember becoming one?"

"No."

This new bit of information was, in Kyle's opinion, absolutely useless. It would obviously be easier to find a remedy to Stan's vampirism if they knew how he had become one and the fact that they had no idea what caused it was infuriating to him. He wasn't angry at Stan; just angry at their predicament. "So you have no idea how you became a vampire? You just randomly started drinking blood?"

Stan could tell that the red-head was frustrated and knew there was nothing he could do to soothe him. Instead, he decided it would be best to just tell him everything he knew. "It's weird but, I don't really remember anything that happened that Thursday; two weeks ago, I mean. It's like that whole day never even happened. After that, I realized that regular food was making me sick. I can't really explain exactly how it works but, I just knew that I should drink blood."

Despite his initial disappointment, Kyle started to focus on everything Stan was saying. Losing an entire day wasn't what he had expected but it was… interesting to say the least. He no longer thought that this was just a bunch of useless information but he was uncertain of his ability to make any sense of the situation. The instinct to drink blood was also quite interesting to the Jewish boy. He had assumed that Stan had been completely aware of his transformation and had therefore known that he needed to drink blood but it was obvious now that this was not the case. The raven knew he needed blood without even being aware that he had become a vampire. "This is… really weird."

"Yeah, I know," Stan said. "It wasn't until that Sunday that I actually decided to try drinking blood," he continued. "My eyes were turning red and I thought they were going to stay like that at first. Anyway, it's kind of creepy but I just sort of followed this guy around town for a while. When he was alone, I… went after him. I didn't know what else to do. I was starving."

"I know. It's okay, dude," Kyle replied. "I'm not going to treat you any differently because of this. It's not your fault. Anyway," he continued rather cautiously. "You didn't kill the guy, did you?"

"Of course not! Do you think I'm some sort of murderer?" Stan asked defensively.

"No. Of course I don't think that," Kyle assured him. "But I didn't know if you might have accidentally drank too much or something. It was your first time. Something could have gone wrong." Despite his calm attitude, the red-head was genuinely frightened by his friend's sudden anger. He still trusted that the boy in front of him wouldn't endanger his life but there was no denying that Stan's personality was changing. He appeared to be his normal self most of the time but this new vampiric side of him was admittedly unsettling. Not to mention the fact that he had confessed to thinking Kyle's blood was the best he'd ever had.

Stan appeared to be satisfied with Kyle's response and calmed down. He then sighed. "I'm sorry. I know I'm acting weird but I can't help it. It's like I can't control it, you know?"

"You don't have to apologize," Kyle replied. As he looked into the eyes of his best friend, he was soothed by the familiarity of their, once again, soft blue color. This alone seemed to cause him to retract his previous thoughts of Stan and the changes in his personality. The Jewish boy began to see his fear as being nothing other than sheer paranoia. Stan was the same as he had always been. He was convinced of this. Maybe he drank blood now but that didn't change his personality did it? "I think maybe we should stop talking about this for now. I'm getting a headache," Kyle added.

"Yeah. I guess you're right," Stan replied.

"How long can you go before your eyes start to change?" Kyle asked.

"Three days," Stan answered. "I can go two whole days without them changing at all. The third day they start to turn a little red but it's not really noticeable until late at night and by that time, I'll be home."

"Okay," Kyle replied. He seemed to be considering something for a moment and Stan immediately grew nervous. "Then I guess I'll come back Tuesday night."

The raven's eyes widened. "What? No!"

"Stan. You said it yourself. What else are you going to do?" Kyle said calmly. "If we want to keep this a secret and keep you alive, we have to do this. Maybe it's not ideal but I'd rather lose a little blood than lose my best friend."

Stan felt extremely conflicted about feeding from the Jewish boy again but he knew that Kyle was right. There was nothing else they could do. He could go out and feed off of strangers again but then he would risk being seen or even accidentally killing someone like Kyle said. As long as he was with Kyle, he felt safe. He was certain that he would be able to control himself enough that he would never endanger his friend's life because he truly cared for him. He wasn't so sure if he'd always be able stay in control when drinking the blood of a complete stranger because he had no emotional connection to the victim. As much as he hated to admit it, the only way to ensure that no one would lose their life due to his vampirism was to continue to drink Kyle's blood. The thought of causing that much pain to his best friend on a regular basis was torture to Stan and he couldn't bear to dwell on it for long. Defeated, the raven boy nodded in agreement.

"This is just what we have to do. Okay?" Kyle continued. "I don't like it any more than you do but until we find a way to cure you, this is our only option." Seeing how upset Stan looked, Kyle smiled in spite of the situation. "It's okay, Stan. Really. I'll be fine as long as you're okay. I just don't want you to get yourself into trouble."

"Yeah," the raven-haired boy responded quietly. "I know. I just… really don't want to hurt you anymore."

Kyle smiled again. "I said that you drinking my blood was the worst pain I have ever experienced. That was true. But there's one thing I can think of that would hurt worse."

"What's that?" Stan asked.

"Watching you starve to death," Kyle answered. "I don't know what it feels like to watch my best friend die and I would like to keep it that way, okay?"

The raven boy smiled. "Then I guess you're coming over again Tuesday."

"I'll see you then."

_A/N: The next chapter shouldn't take too long to arrive. I'm trying to make their little crushes for each other get less and less subtle as we go and eventually I'll get to some cute, fluffy stuff. For now, let's just have the boys concerned for each other because that's always adorable anyway. :3_


End file.
